After ensuring the fake lion isn’t returning, as Lisa advised, the team presses on. At an intersection, they spot a group of souls battling a mimic-ii to the left. Opting for the right path, they soon realize they are moving backward, possibly toward one of the four passageways at the starting point. Scurrying back to the intersection, they find the previous group of souls has vanished. This time, they decide to go straight, leading them to a large hall. However, blocking their way is a mimic-ii, taking the shape of a soul.

From the right path, another mimic-ii launches an attack, striking Wyn in the face with an imitate laser beam – a stream of water encased in rock. The impact sends him staggering, but Wyn quickly regains his balance, planting a leg firmly on the ground and gripping Anish’s shoulder for support.

“Ouch!” he exclaims.

“That’s it? Just ‘ouch’?” James questions.

With Wyn’s current strength, the mimic’s attack is too weak to inflict serious injury. Realizing this, the mimic flees. Meanwhile, the other mimic guarding the entrance is caught off guard by Anish, who reels it in with the hook tip of his javelin. Yu seizes the opportunity, extending his crescent blade to pierce through the mimic’s outer layer before slashing upward, slicing it open from the upper midsection.

“You take the essence, weak tall man boy. So one day, you’ll be as strong as the rest,” Yu jests, allowing James to collect two hundred essence. As expected, James gives Yu the finger before proceeding.

Inside the hall, several butterflus circle around four safe spaces located in the corners. In the center of the hall, however, all three species of creatures wander, searching for prey, with some engaged in fights with other souls. Devising a strategy to get to the other side of the hall, they return to the intersection.

“Do you want me to cyclone dash us across?” Wyn asks.

“Uh, probably not, sweety,” Mira replies, shaking her head.

“I could shoot lasers to clear a path,” Lisa offers.

“But we don’t want you accidentally hitting other souls. We’d get in trouble,” Anish cautions.

While the team debates their options, a rumbling sound grows louder. Realizing a fake lion is approaching, Lisa urges them to take the left path to avoid the creature. Unfortunately, they soon hit a dead end. At Wyn’s command, Lisa unleashes four lasers, each encased in a fiery cyclone. The attacks strike the advancing lion directly in the face. Upon impact, the creature recoils, visibly shrinking to three-quarters of its original size before turning and retreating.

“I’ve got an idea. How about we trick the lion into the hall?” Wyn suggests.

“We keep diverting its path until it gets to the hall?” James responds.

“I can’t believe you’re not protesting this idea.”

“Yeah, like I have a better one, pfft.”

“I can fly us up to locate a lion. Screw the leaderboard,” Anish interjects.

As they soar through the air, the team spots multiple fake lions, with two just a couple of passageways away. Wyn positions a well-timed cyclone in front of one of the lions, forcing it to switch paths. The herding seems to go smoothly until the lion collides with another one. The impact causes both lions to shrink from the tail up, killing them instantly. While searching for a new target, a descending cyclone suddenly forms, slamming them to the ground. Wyn quickly springs back to his feet, ready for anything, but the rest of the team struggles to rise, dazed.

“A parapsycho must've attacked us!” Wyn exclaims.

“Let’s just go back to the hall. We can move from one safe space to the next,” Mira suggests.

Despite Mira's urging to brute force their way into the hall, Wyn eventually manages to lure a moderately sized fake lion into the area. As expected, all the creatures inside react to its presence, some fleeing while others engage in battle. Anish lifts all the souls, including strangers, to safety, leaving them to fend off the butterflus. The fake lion clears out most of the enemies, though at the cost of its own life, shrinking out of existence..

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“Because of you, we’ll take a time penalty! You know what consent is?” a stranger male soul accuses.

“But you were happily floating with us just then…,” Anish counters.

The upset souls leave the hall, heading deeper into the maze through the only available passageway. To create some distance between his team and the others, Wyn asks Yu to check on Christine, who refuses to answer his multiple calls. Frustrated, they move on.

Shortly after exiting the hall, the team encounters another intersection. This part of the maze proves tricky as they find themselves repeatedly going back and forth, unsure of the right path. After what feels like endless wandering, they spot another butterflu in the distance. Their journey leads them to a path where the floor is replaced by air grilles. While contemplating whether to find a new route, a hattrick suddenly appears, emerging from around a corner. As it steps onto one of the grilles, they activate, blowing wind that sends the creature spiraling out of control.

“Can you hook your weapon to the ceiling and one of the openings on a grille?” Wyn asks.

Anish nods and complies, first hooking the ceiling, where the hook once again magically adheres without piercing it, just like on most surfaces he’s used it on. Then he jumps inside to shoot the other hook to a grille. The team uses the weapon as a bar to hold onto as they move forward.

“Woah! It’s shaking baddd,” Yu exclaims, gripping tightly.

At nearly the midpoint of the path, Wyn launches a cyclone at the hattrick, pushing it away from the grilles. Despite the creature's displacement, the wind from the grilles continues to blow fiercely. Stuck in place, Wyn propels the team forward, using the hattrick to cushion their crash landing. The hattrick, currently in its cat form, loses its hat to the relentless wind. Before it can summon another, Wyn embeds his chakrams into its head. The hattrick struggles, unable to don a new hat or move, with Wyn's entire team literally chilling and chatting on top of it. Moments later, the creature goes motionless.

“Why didn’t we just turn back?” Mira asks.

“Too lazy. It was a long walk,” Wyn replies.

“Dang! Not at ten thousand yet! Sooo close,” Anish laments.

Following a butterflu, they eventually arrive at another hall. In the center of the otherwise empty room lies a large green square, where a different team of souls has taken refuge, a lone butterflu still circling the square.

“GET OUT! NOW!” a demon roars, emerging from one of the three exits.

“What’s going on? Why is there a demon here?” Wyn asks.

“A new champion has emerged, and it is in the maze. Do not go any further. Get out!” the demon warns.

Suddenly, a shimmering tendril grabs the cat’s leg, dragging it back to where it emerged from. In shock, every soul watches the scene unfold in horror, listening to the demon’s anguished scream. Wyn and Lisa hastily place portals behind the team as they hear a squishing sound.

A creature emerges, its massive form squeezing into the hall. It resembles a human shape but lacks distinct features. The creature's limbs seem amputated yet it stands upright, devoid of joints, moving with an unsettling fluidity. Its face, arms, and legs are absent, but bright, glowing ice-blue patches illuminate where its shoulders, chest, and knees would be. Its piercing, large void-black eyes seem to stare intently at the souls. The shimmering, flexible blob shifts slightly as it moves, its form constantly adjusting yet maintaining its human-like shape.

“We…are…finally…one. We…are…here…against…our…will. We…will…kill. We…will…grow,” it speaks in a chorus of different voices.

“It talks? What on earth? I mean, Hell,” Yu exclaims.

Lifting both arms, the creature summons icicles from the ground. Even the souls inside the green square aren’t safe from the onslaught. Reacting quickly, Anish lifts the team up, though Wyn’s foot is demolished as an icicle rises.

In response, Lisa fires lasers from her weapon, creating a brief, burning red spot on the creature’s chest before it fades almost instantly. The creature retaliates with a sweeping motion, sending a powerful gust that slams Wyn and the others against the metal sheet wall. As they fall, Yu and Mira fuse their powers, unleashing a stream of hot water to slow down the next wave of icicles while Anish lifts the team back up into the air.

“Hover above any of the portals! Icicles don’t seem to come from there!” Wyn commands, grimacing as he fortifies his injured foot with rock – a futile attempt to numb the pain.

The creature stomps the ground, summoning a rock pillar that sends the souls inside the green square flying. With arms wide open, it launches laser beams, striking several of them in midair. Lisa, having charged up for a powerful fused attack, unleashes electrifying lasers encased in a fiery cyclone which also carries various weapons. The creature braces itself for the impact. Mira’s whip detonates on contact, while Wyn’s chakrams, Yu’s crescent blade, and Anish’s javelin embed themselves around its neck and chest. James’ rapier, however, narrowly misses its target.

“Go for the black eyes!” Wyn shouts.

As the creature slowly begins to force the lodged weapons out, Wyn conjures a descending rocky cyclone to distract it. Yu resummons his blade, then proceeds to hurl the blade tip, spinning inside water. Simultaneously, James launches his ice-frosted rapier, boosted by Anish’s wind. Their attacks land on the creature’s eyes but fail to lodge.

“I just noticed something! Did that shoulder patch turn yellow?” Wyn exclaims.

With one shoulder patch now a dark yellow, a thunderstrike from above hits Wyn’s team, propelling them directly into the emergency portal. As they tumble down, Mira’s arm strikes the floor outside the portal with a sickening crunch, breaking it, while Anish collides chin-first with the ground just before falling through, knocking him unconscious.